Time is our greatest asset when it comes to planning our retirement futures. And what you think you want for yourself now can change with age, experience, and circumstances. Rather than have the future sneak up on you—plan early. No matter where you are on your professional journey, it makes sense to occasionally audit your retirement ambitions and current financial situation to ensure you will meet your goals and confirm that your plans and goals align! Planning early saves you from regret since the future tends to sneak up on us sooner than we expect. 

Here are some tools to help ensure you set yourself up for success when planning for retirement.

• Know thyself! Let’s start with the basics and inventory your spending habits, current savings, and financial goals. An honest assessment of your current situation and expectations will help set the foundation for the next steps. IALC’s retirement planning worksheet

• Peering into your crystal ball. Once you’ve spent time listing out current expenses and assets, you’ll want to know the projected impact of your current efforts. This is where we discover how to adjust efforts to garner more significant rewards. Project your savings

• Rolling the dice. Every person has a different comfort level when it comes to risk—and you need to know your risk tolerance to help you decide the investments you want to include in your portfolio. Another reason to assess your tolerance every few years is that it can change, impacting future decisions. Risk profile

• Working with Uncle Sam. Whether you pay now or pay later, taxes are unavoidable. But it is helpful to know how taxes affect your current and future income streams. Compare tax options. 

• Reap what you sow. Depending on your lifetime earnings, you may have Social Security income post-retirement. Social Security is an integral part of your retirement portfolio, but many factors affect the amount you may receive. Calculate your approximate social security benefit. 

A Fixed Indexed Annuity (FIA) offers the opportunity for tax-deferred growth based in part on changes in a market index, plus the option to convert your annuity into a steady, guaranteed, lifetime income stream, all while protecting your hard-earned principal from the uncertainty of market volatility. With an FIA, you do not have to pay taxes on the interest earned until you begin making withdrawals. This tax-deferred period can have a dramatic effect on your growth. Tax advantages of an FIA. 

The customizable calculators listed above allow you to run scenarios based on your financial and personal situation. Dabble with them some more, and you can project the impact that minor changes to your retirement savings plan can make—such as increasing your savings contributions year over year or considering the age when you plan on retiring. You’ll discover that minor adjustments can have a big impact on future outcomes.